Etihad Airways to link Abu Dhabi and Venice

(AGI) - Abu Dhabi, 16 Aug. - Etihad Airways, the Abu Dhabi-based national airline of the United Arab Emirates, is to expand its services to Italy with a daily flight to Venice Marco Polo Airport. The new service will begin on 30th October, 2016 and will be served by an Airbus A319, offering 16 seats in Business and 90 in Economy. Together with Alitalia, its codeshare and equity partner, Etihad Airways will then offer 35 weekly flights in and out of Italy, including double daily services to Rome and Milan. Etihad's Venice flight will offer convenient travel times for guests travelling between the UAE and the Italian city. In addition, the new service will offer seamless connections through Abu Dhabi's hub to the popular Australian dedstinations of Sydney and Melbourne, as well as key routes within the GCC, Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Northeast Asia. Venice, renowned for its picturesque bridges and canals, is one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, while Italy is the world's 5th most visited country - with over 50 million international arrivals in 2015, according to the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). Etihad Airways started flights to Milan in 2007 before Rome was added to the network in 2014, contributing to a strong trade relationship between the United Arab Emirates and Italy. Bilateral trade was valued at US$6.14 billion (5.45 billion Euros) in 2015 and the UAE Ministry of Economy has licensed more than 90 Italian companies to operate in the country. Speaking on the announcement, Kevin Knight, Etihad Airways' Chief Strategy and Planning Officer, said, "Launching our service to Venice supports a very popular passenger route between Italy, our Abu Dhabi hub and onwards throughout the Etihad Airways' growing network, as far afield as Australia. Together with our code-share and equity partner, Alitalia, we are strengthening the significant trade relationship between Italy and the UAE." Alitalia currently operates the Venice to Abu Dhabi route in code-share with Etihad Airways and has decided to redeploy its aircraft on its international network from the 2016 winter schedule. Alitalia will code-share on the new Etihad flight, maintaining access to Abu Dhabi and Etihad Airways' global network for its Venice-based customers. (AGI) .